anyone know how to include spouse when emailing to group?

We are emailing newsletters to a group of our clients. However we don't know how to include spouses that want the same newsletter to that emailing. We use mail merge to email the newsletter and there's no option to CC:. Can anyone help?

Re: anyone know how to include spouse when emailing to group?

If the spouse wants the newsletter delivered to a different email address than the primary one you have for the contact, the only ACT! method I am aware of is to create a separate contact for the spouse and include him/her in your newsletter mailing group.

The newsletter I send out goes to the primary email address. ACT! picks up the spouse name as part of the salutation. For example if the couple is Julie and Jim the newsletter starts "xxxx Newsletter especially for Julie & Jim". If there is no spouse then it is just "Julie".

Re: anyone know how to include spouse when emailing to group?

We have also thought about that as a solution but we've always thought it was a "quick fix" and not an official solution. How long have you been doing it this way and have you found it confusing keeping duplicate records of the same person?

When I am setting up a contact, if each spouse will be making decisions that will impact our business relationship, I treat (contact manager wise) each person (spouse) as I would when I have multiple contacts in a company (Logistics Manager, Purchaser, VP Finance, President, etc). Each gets their own contact linked to the company (a company could, in this case, be a family; a group association might be better). This is essential to properly capture History.

However, if in our relationship they (both spouses) are equally participating or if one is really the primary contact who I will be dealing with, I capture both spouses' contact information in the same Contact Detail view.

For example, an insurance person may have a policy on one spouse but not the other. So there really is only need to have a distinct contact for the insured person. However, the prudent insurance rep would want to be keenly aware of how to reach the spouse, his/her birthday, as well as children, pets, etc.

Regarding addressing newsletters, I have a "Salutation" field. So where the Full Names is Elizabeth Green and Robert Green, my Salutation field might be Betty & Bob. It is this field that is the salutation on the newsletter, as well as some correspondence, anniversary card....

Another scenario where the Spouse/Partner field is important is in those business dealings where my Contact (capital C) is one spouse and I learned or have met or been introduced to the other spouse/partner but have really no relationship with him/her other than as a result of my business with his/her spouse. In these situations on my Contact Detail view I enter the spouse's name (for easy recall when the need arises) but I do not add him/her to the Salutation.

Re: anyone know how to include spouse when emailing to group?

Thanks Jeffrey, this confirms what we initially thought - create separate records for spouses that want to receive our newsletters in their own email address. I truely appreciate the time you took in helping me. Feel free to email me if you want to see how we do things in ACT! - vinh@familycapitalmgt.com